>> up next, a suspicious house fire nearly kills an entire family. had she been in there much longer, she certainly wouldn't have survived. >> a month later, the husband is assaulted and the wife is dead. >> who did this? who would have possibly want wanted to hurt her. >> everyone was in lockdown move. new lights, new sensors had been purchased. everyone was on edge. >> police have no witnesses, no motive and no suspects. >> this was a savage brutal attack. >> until science uncovers an elaborate plan. >> everybody was scratching their heads. >> michael and effie ratley didn't meet in the typical way

through friends or the an work or school. they met when effie's car had a flat tire, and michael stopped and offered to help. >> i was glad that effie found someone that she wanted to date. because she had not previous dated a whoa lot. >> 18 months after their chance encounter, the couple married. but the union lasted only three months. >> they were married for a short time originally. they broke up. never really lost contact with one another. >> but less than a year later, the couple married again. and soon had a child together, a son. aiden. >> i knew that if effie had the opportunity to be back with michael, she would. because she truly loved him. she truly loved him. >> michael was an officer for blue cross and blue shield.

and the couple lived in a mobile home next door to michael's parents in bryceville, florida. but just weeks after coming home from the hospital with their new baby, tragedy struck. a fire broke out in michael and effie's home. michael managed to get the baby out unharmed. but effie was trapped inside. instead of waiting pore fire fights, he used a satellite dish to break a window. michael's actions were hailed by the local media. michael's wife says she was asleep and had no idea what was going on because it of the all happening so fast. >> i wasn't really already thinking anything at the time when i got out and i realized what was going on. you know, it was good to see him and know that he was okay. >> michael says he's just glad he woke up. >> i try not to think what could have happened if i wouldn't have woke up. it's too scary to think about.

>> as a reporter i'm hearing him say this and i'm thinking this guy is an absolute hero. when you saw the damage inside this home you realized had she been in there much longer, she certainly won't have survived. >> fire investigators determined the cause of the fire was faulty wiring and there was no functioning fire detector. >> the fire was ruled to have been an accidental fire. >> michael, effie and their baby moved in with michael's parents, but a month later, tragedy struck the ratleys again. >> michael ratley was sleeping in the living room with his newborn son. that was something he did frequently so that effie could be in the room by herself and get more sleep. >> michael heard a noise coming from the bedroom. >> and that's what awoke him and arose his attention to go in there and check on her. >> he went in, found the window

wide open and his wife bleeding on the bed. >> hello. >> what's going on? >> oh. >> what's going on, sir? >> my son is in the room. >> okay, what is she doing? >> she's sleeping. >> she's unresponsive? >> yeah. >> paramedics rushed effie to the local hospital. >> she was alive and breathing according to rescue. when i got there, they said she was barely hanging on. >> it was terrible. i remember coming out and telling joyce, it's bad.

there had been a suspected break the ratleys' home. and effie ratley had suffered serious injuries. emergency room doctors discovered she had been struck seven times in the head with a

blunt object. >> the wounds had a appearance of a star which generally tells you that it's a round object that struck that person. >> what makes this a personal crime were not only the extent of the injuries but placement of the injuries. this was not a one gunshot or a one stab wound. this was blow after blow after blow. very, very violent. >> effie had no enemies. she was loved by everyone who met her. who would do this and why? >> after four days, doctors concluded the neurological damage was too great and with the family's permission, effie was taken off life support. >> i always thought what would i do if something happened to one of my children. i'm sure of we all have probably done that, but it's not the same when it does happen. seems like you could prepare all you want to, it's not going to diminish the effect on you.

>> it looked as if effie's killer entered and exited through her ground floor bedroom window while everyone else in the house was asleep in other rooms. >> outside the window, they found the screen that had been cut. it was laying directly beneath the window. >> once i stepped in the room you could see the blood spatter on the wall behind effie's bed. >> michael ratley's parents stated that they never heard any noise coming from the bedroom during the attack. >> effie ratley's murder was a concern to the entire community. >> this was a big-time crime in a very small city, and it got everyone's attention immediately. >> the night before effie's murder, there had been another incident on the ratleys' property. someone attacked michael ratley outside the barn. >> what's going on?

>> my son came home. when he was at the barn, somebody hit him in the back of his head. >> does he know who did it? >> no idea. he don't know if he blacked out or what. >> nothing had been stolen. which led police to believe michael had surprised his attacker before he could steal anything. >> it created a lot of concern with the family. it was common in this area to at night leave a garage door open or even a window open or what have you. that was not the case after the barn incident. >> before this incident, 40 miles away, a woman was raped during a home invasion. a week before that, a woman working at a nearby convenience store was beaten and left in a storeroom. >> it appeared that there might be someone out here on the loose preying on women in our county. >> but investigators found evidence that contradicted the

idea the intruder entered through the ratleys' bedroom window. it had been freezing cold on night of the murder. yet, there were no foot impressions outside in the ground under the bedroom window. >> there was a heavy frost that night. also, there were no footprints in the frost where that would indicate that someone had disturbed it. >> and nothing had been tracked inside onto the bedroom carpet. >> this carpeting was white. and so if somebody had come in through the window, you would expect some evidence, some debris that would have been carried inside the residence from outside. >> in fact, a basket of clothes directly in front of the window and a layer of dust on the window sill hadn't been touched. >> the investigators went so far as to videotape the window sills inside and out with a close-up view and you could see the dust on the inside of the window sill that was undisturbed.

>> and robbery didn't appear to be a motive. >> there was a purse by the window that was not taken. there was a wallet on the nightstand that was not taken. and she was not sexually assaulted in any way. >> investigators also found some personal items in michael ratley's possession that raised questions about the couple's marriage. >> there was a portable dvd player, a bottle of personal lubricant, and several dvd movies that contained adult male gay porn graphic material on it. >> it did lead to theories about motive, you know, he had a boyfriend somewhere and maybe he wanted to do away with effie to live that lifestyle and just breakaway. >> in addition, michael's phone records indicated he had been making frequent phone calls to a 35-year-old man who had been one of his teachers in high school. although this was suspicious, was it a possible motive for murder?

at the ratleys' home,

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at the ratleys' home, investigators found evidence that appeared to contradict the theory an intruder broke into their home the night effie was

murdered. >> the curtains were white. there was no evidence whatsoever. i actually got down on my hands and knees and looked at that area looking for any kind of trace evidence and there was nothing there. >> michael ratley's sister lived down the road and she too heard nothing to indicate an intruder. >> michael ratley's sister and her husband had eight hunting dogs that were in a pen and they had two dogs that ran freely. and by everyone's account, there were no dogs heard barking the night of the assault. >> and michael's friends told investigators he had made some malicious comments about his wife. >> he had told his friends that he hated his wife. he had told his friends that he couldn't afford a child so there was more to michael ratley's marriage than what there appeared to be on the surface. >> and according to effie's family, there were other troubling incidents. like the time effie was driving to work on the interstate. michael called asking her to

check the console to see if his medication was there. >> she nearly wrecked the car at that point. her girlfriends later relayed to me that she was just plum hysterical when she got to work. yeah, she did have a fear of mice. >> we're not real sure if michael did it or not. >> investigators also learned effie had $150,000 of life insurance with michael as the beneficiary. in reconstructing the crime and analyzing the blood spatter evidence, investigators concluded that the killer would have been covered in blood. scientists tested the robe michael was wearing on the night of his wife's murder. >> i did look for the presence of blood on that bathrobe, but i did not find any. i was surprised.

the whole house was searched, anything for weapons, the whole house was fingerprinted. dna swabs, any kind of blood or anything for touch dna was swabbed in that house. >> but investigators found nothing, no murder weapon, bloody clothing or any other evidence of the crime. inside michael's truck, however, investigators found a hidden compartment under the back seat. there they found a treasure trove of forensic evidence. >> michael ratley's truck turned out to be the jackpot, if you will, for our case. >> it was almost like it was packaged for them to find because it was just that easy. >> there was a hammer, a box cutter, a piece of burnt electrical wire, and several pairs of gloves. >> michael ratley said he was shocked that these items were found in his truck. >> his words were oh, my god so it look like i killed my wife. >> michael insisted he wasn't the killer and that someone was

trying to frame him. >> michael believed that somebody planted those items in his truck and it might have possibly been the same attacker who attacked him in the barn. >> the piece of burnt electrical wire was compared to the wire in the ratley's mobile home that caught fire a month earlier. >> and forensically and microscopically it was compared to the ends of the wire that remained in the trailer and it was a match. >> the wire alone disproved the intruder theory. >> it showed that the manor did this murder then went to all the trouble of getting those wires and putting them also in the storage compartment that michael ratley had, which would be incredible. >> but one question bothered investigators. if michael ratley wanted his wife dead, why did he go through the trouble of rescuing her from

the house fire just a month earlier. >> it makes you wonder did he try to kill her in that fire? nobody knows. ugh. heartburn. did someone say burn? try alka seltzer reliefchews. they work just as fast and are proven to taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm. amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief.

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her, then fled the scene without leaving any trace evidence. he also claimed the killer hid the murder weapon and gloves in the hidden compartment of his truck. >> he talked about the fact that he loved his wife, that he would not do this to her, that she had just given birth to his child so there was no reason whatsoever. >> his story was difficult to believe, but would forensic science provide the answers? >> the bloody hammer found in mike's truck was the first thing analysts tested. >> and that is where i developed a dna profile from. that dna profile matched that of effie ratley. >> the medical examiner's analysis concluded the hammer matched effie ratley's head wounds. dna tests identified it was effie's blood on the paper towels and the heavy work gloves found in michael's truck but they didn't find any dna inside the work gloves. so scientists swabbed the inside of the latex gloves for skin

cells. >> michael ratley's dna was recovered from the latex gloves. it was just a logical assumption that michael ratley had worn the latex gloves and then put the larger heavier rubber gloves on and then wielded the murder weapon in killing his wife. >> prosecutors believe michael ratley had planned his wife's murder for months. and had made more than one attempt on her life. the first could have been the incident in the car with the mouse which almost caused her to crash on the interstate highway. the mobile home fire was also suspicious. prosecutors believe michael disconnected the smoke alarm and started the fire near the baby's diaper warmer while effie was asleep. michael grabbed their infant son and ran outside. the blaze blocked effie's escape. but family members and neighbors

saw the smoke and got to the scene before the fire engulfed the entire mobile home. so michael probably felt he had no choice but to make some attempt to save his wife. oh he broke one of the windows and helped her to escape. in so doing, he was hailed as a hero. >> are you okay? >> a month later, while living with his parents, michael fabricated the story that he was hit on the head by a robber trying to break into the barn. his plan was to create the impressing that a thief was running loose in the neighborhood.

the next day, prosecutors believe he cut out the bedroom screen, waited for his wife to go to bed, took off his clothes, put on two pairs of gloves, and used a hammer to beat his wife to death. blood spattered onto the walls and all over him. he used the paper towels to clean himself, then put on his robe. which explains why there was no blood on him when interviewed by police. michael hid the evidence in. the hidden compartment of his truck. then ran to his parents' bedroom and reported the attack. >> michael ratley thought that the last person that they would look at was him and the last place that they had look was his truck. and he was dead wrong on both accounts. >> effie's parents believe

michael no longer wanted to be married but didn't want the financial burden of a divorce. >> i truly believe in his mind this was a way out. in his mind, it was the only way out. because if he divorced, ed be a weakened father paying child support until aiden was 1 years of age. >> in july of 2009, michael ratley was tried and convicted of first. degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. >> on its face, a person can appear a certain way but when you do more investigation, you find out it's a little different. you really find out the true character of a person at that time. >> michael is a monster, a soulless monster. i've struggled with that. why, why anybody could do something of that magnitude but

there's a lot of deceives in the world. >> with this type of crime scene the way it was laid out and amount of evidence that was left for us, it was a home run. you couldn't ask for anything better. up next -- >> my husband has locked himself in our bedroom. >> the death certificate came back as a suicide. >> or was it murder? >> what in the name of heaven is he doing committing suicide by a turkey baster. >> the evidence at the scene confounds investigators. >> there's something more going on with this. it just wasn't right. >> it's creepy, it's chilling. >> and it would take years before the forensics could figure it all out. >> this case was a forensic bonanza for me. the heating and air conditioning business was a lucrative one for david castor. his perfectionism and attent